​Invited presentation for the Arizona State University Music Therapy Student Organization. In this session, I explored different models of disability in order to complexify attendees' conception of disability.

NAfME Research Conference 2016

Rathgeber, J. (2016, March). Visions of disability: Analysis of photographic representation of disability in the Music Educators Journal, 1914-2015. Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, Atlanta, GA.

ABSTRACT:Music education research and publications related to disability regularly approach the subject from a medicalized perspective, seeing disability only as individual pathology of particular persons who fall outside of the norm due to differences in physical or cognitive functioning (Dobbs, 2012). Such a perspective takes disability as an ontological fact. Yet, scholars in the field of disability studies draw on the social model of disability (Oliver, 1983) to forward a different perspective, viewing disability as a social construct which manifests as social oppression exerted upon those deemed to have functional differences. Central to this perspective are the ways in which disability is constructed, named, and expressed through social practices. Professional journals represent disciplinary discourses that constitute and regulate social practices within a field (Foucault, 1995). Mantie (2013) suggests that professional publications “serve to construct the truth about matters of disciplinary concern” (p. 336). As such, professional publications are prime locations for analysis into understand how disability is constructed and catalyzed in music education through and practice.

Discourse analysis commonly takes as its focus verbal and written text, yet, Christmann (2008) implicates photography as an element of discourse regularly disregarded though potentially powerful for analysis of power and social practice. Solomon-Godeau (1991) asserts that each rather than being an objective document of nature, a photograph is framed by “textual, epistemological, and ideological systems that inscribe and contain it” (p. 171), thus questioning any claim for the representation objective truth of photographs. Noth (2011) implicates the symbolic and indexical qualities of photographs and urges for the use of critical visual analysis as a means of reading photographic data.

The purpose of this study was to examine the way disability has been constructed in the Music Educators Journal in its 101-year history (2014-2015) through photographic representation. The researcher employed critical visual analysis (Margolis & Pauwless, 2011) and content analysis (Yarbough, 1984) methods in order to inspect the ways that persons with disabilities are represented within the specific disciplinary discourse of the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). The researcher examined 641 issues of the MEJ to find photographs of persons with disabilities. Photographs (N = 177) were analyzed using Garland-Thomson’s (2002) “visual rhetorics of disability” taxonomy of “the wondrous,” “the sentimental,” “the exotic,” and “the realistic.” Shifts in the quantities of photographs in each category over time and in relation to disability-related policy suggest the changing nature of how music education constructs disability through photographic representations. Also, findings implicate the need for critical and sensitive consideration of how persons with disabilities are represented in music education literature.

National Association for Music Education Research Conference 2016, Atlanta, GA.

Rathgeber, J. (2016, March). Visions of disability: Analysis of photographic representation of disability in the Music Educators Journal, 1914-2015. Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Music education research and publications related to disability regularly approach the subject from a medicalized perspective, seeing disability only as individual pathology of particular persons who fall outside of the norm due to differences in physical or cognitive functioning (Dobbs, 2012). Such a perspective takes disability as an ontological fact. Yet, scholars in the field of disability studies draw on the social model of disability (Oliver, 1983) to forward a different perspective, viewing disability as a social construct which manifests as social oppression exerted upon those deemed to have functional differences. Central to this perspective are the ways in which disability is constructed, named, and expressed through social practices. Professional journals represent disciplinary discourses that constitute and regulate social practices within a field (Foucault, 1995). Mantie (2013) suggests that professional publications “serve to construct the truth about matters of disciplinary concern” (p. 336). As such, professional publications are prime locations for analysis into understand how disability is constructed and catalyzed in music education through and practice.

​Discourse analysis commonly takes as its focus verbal and written text, yet, Christmann (2008) implicates photography as an element of discourse regularly disregarded though potentially powerful for analysis of power and social practice. Solomon-Godeau (1991) asserts that each rather than being an objective document of nature, a photograph is framed by “textual, epistemological, and ideological systems that inscribe and contain it” (p. 171), thus questioning any claim for the representation objective truth of photographs. Noth (2011) implicates the symbolic and indexical qualities of photographs and urges for the use of critical visual analysis as a means of reading photographic data.

The purpose of this study was to examine the way disability has been constructed in the Music Educators Journal in its 101-year history (2014-2015) through photographic representation. The researcher employed critical visual analysis (Margolis & Pauwless, 2011) and content analysis (Yarbough, 1984) methods in order to inspect the ways that persons with disabilities are represented within the specific disciplinary discourse of the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). The researcher examined 641 issues of the MEJ to find photographs of persons with disabilities. Photographs (N = 177) were analyzed using Garland-Thomson’s (2002) “visual rhetorics of disability” taxonomy of “the wondrous,” “the sentimental,” “the exotic,” and “the realistic.” Shifts in the quantities of photographs in each category over time and in relation to disability-related policy suggest the changing nature of how music education constructs disability through photographic representations. Also, findings implicate the need for critical and sensitive consideration of how persons with disabilities are represented in music education literature.

Rathgeber, J. (2015, October). We’ve got to rock: The musical world of the Smooth Criminals. Poster presented at the Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC.

This case study sought to explore the practices of a music therapy rock band, the Smooth Criminals. The band was comprised of young adults with development disabilities and adult assistants. The group operated within a “community music therapy” (Ruud, 2004; Stige, Andsell, Elefant, & Pavlicevi, 2010) clinical setting. Research questions included: (Q1) What are the musical practices of the young adult members of the band and how do the adult members facilitate these practices, (Q2) What are the affordances of the band’s practices for young adult members, and (Q3) What are the constraints of the band’s practices for young adult members? Data generation occurred over 13 months and included: video recordings of rehearsals, video recordings of two performances, informal and semi-structured interviews with participants and family members, field notes, reflective journaling, and selective transcription of video-recorded data.

​Related to each research question, findings include: (Q1) Young adult members selected the music they learned/performed, chose or rejected adult-created approaches, and were empowered to self-adapt situations to fit their abilities and needs. Adult members offered young adult members scaffolded and accommodative approaches for learning/performing music. (Q2) Participation in the band may afford young adult members chances to engage in musical community, to develop a sense of mutual care, to construct their own identities, and to develop their abilities to communicate verbally and musically. (Q3) Findings suggest that the practices of the band may have constrained the young adult members due to: limited focus on musical skills/technique acquisition, limited interactions with peers without similar diagnoses, limited genres to explore due to instrument availability and adult instrumental proficiency, and adult members’ assumptions about the abilities and tastes of young adult members. The findings may inform music educators who seek to develop ways to facilitate music making and learning among individuals with diverse abilities.

This case study explores the means and meanings of participation in a music therapy rock band for young adult members. The band, the Smooth Criminals, was comprised of five young adult members diagnosed with developmental disabilities and four adult assistants, including three music therapists/interns and myself as a volunteer. Data collection included: video recordings of weekly rehearsals and three concert; field notes; interviews with young adult members, their family members, and the other adult assistants; and a researcher journal. Through data analysis using organizational and axial coding, three major themes emerged: (1) young adult members use the band as a space to play with and construct personal identity, (2) participation in the band afford the young adult members and their family members a space for community and mutual care, and (3) adult assistants as acting as embellishers and providing a safety net. Findings suggest the experiences hold mostly social and identity-based meanings for young adults and that actions of the young adults are facilitated by self-adaptations and help from adult assistants. The discussion explores possible implications of this study for music education and music education research practices.

​Rathgeber, J. (2015, June). Let’s rock, together: The Smooth Criminals, disability, and inclusion. Paper presented at the Association for Popular Music Education Conference, University of Miami, Miami, FL.